For over a week people have been signing our petition and asking theatres to reconsider hosting Psychic and Medium stage shows. The response has been theatres telling us that the shows are for entertainment only and that their customers are aware of this.
Project Barnum founder, Hayley, has written up a conclusion that can be read by clicking here.
Hmmm you say that “People don’t burst into tears for entertainment purposes only…”?
I would have to disagree, I have been to musicals, plays and movies and found them, at times, able to make people cry real tears of joy and sadness. For example when my partner and I first saw The Green Mile at the cinema there were a lot of people crying at the execution scene (including me!!), some people couldn’t take anymore and left. Musicals like Phantom, Les Mis and Rent make people cry at times too. Still what’s the point of anecdotes to a cynic?
I must say, that for someone allegedly working in the business, you seem to have a VERY narrow view of what theater can achieve with its audiences, for entertainment purposes only
Hi Gari,
A piece of theatre or a film is a different experience that somebody going to see a psychic. The context of the emotional reaction is completely different.
The people who burst into tears at a Psychic or Medium show don’t do so because the performance has moved them as a drama piece would, but because they are being told somebody they love who has passed away is talking to them.
I can appreciate your concern about charlatans who may be deluding the public but it is up to you to prove they are indeed charlatans!
Your case presumably is that they are ALL charlatans because the nature of your website suggests there is no such thing as psychic ability or communication with the dead.
I would suggest this is a dishonest and unrealistic approach especially when there is a huge amount of research suggesting psychic functioning is a reality and there are also scientists researchingf evidence of life after death involving experiments with mediums.
Many of the punters who go to these shows are themselves Spiritualists who also attend Spiritualist churches where mediums do their thing – and sometimes there is also ad admission charge there too. Do you propose to petition these churches to close down also – especially seeing as there is no ‘entertainment only’ clause – the churches say they demonstrate the ‘real’ thing!
At best you are patronising people who can well make up their minds if Uncle Jack is really sending his love.
Personally I have witnessed some amazing demonstrations of real mediumship and have also seen some bad ones who may have been tricksters. But I have the right to make up my mind without your crowd trying to shut up shop because you think they’re all phonies.
Hello Dave,
I don’t believe you have read through the website correctly as we’re not focussing upon whether medium a, b or c is fake or not. We’re focussing on known tricks used by people claiming to be psychic or mediums when they’re not. Tricks that are also used by magicians with similar results.
Of course, if a psychic or medium wants to prove they actually have the ability they claim to under controlled conditions then we would of course be interested, however we’re not a site who target people, but instead just the dodgy techniques. I guess you could say as a result of that we also target those who use those dodgy techniques and claim otherwise – but I doubt anyone will hold their hands up and claim to be a victim. Do you?
- Hayley
Hi Hayley
I can see you and I are not going to agree but….
I realise you are focussing on tricks etc but my point is that it’s unfair to suggest to people that the mediums they see are tricksters unless you have REAL evidence that they are.
I think you named three with past incidents which cast doubt on their work – fair enough although I imagine there’s more to the stories and their defence than you carry in a couple of lines.
How can I get my point over? Imagine parents love employing chidren’s entertainers for their birthday parties or whatever and then somebody starts a website after hearing of a few cases of peodophiles posing as children’s clowns.
Would it be fair to start petitions discouraging child entertainers and naming the tricks the phony onces use to ensnare children?
Do you not see the similarity?
You have also not commented on my points about the same mediums working in churches or the scientific work done on mediumship.
All it would take is for someone claiming to be psychic to prove they’re not using trickery for their potential clients to not be put off from going to them.
Nothing on this website is untrue, and as consumers the general public have a right to be educated about what they might encounter and how to spot whether they’re being misled.
We’re not suggesting people don’t go to see a psychic, we’re helping people identify whether the psychic/medium they’re visiting is scamming them.
The petition was conducted as a fact finding mission more than something aiming to close down psychic shows – we knew that wouldn’t happen.
As for spiritualist churches, the same tips for spotting trickery apply there too, so people can use the advice on this website in that sort of situation as well – it just happened that we were researching how theatres would respond in this instance (with the petition.) Our advice and website content would also help with phone line readings, one to one readings, mail readings etc.
At Project Barnum we’re fully aware of the scientific study of mediums and psychics as we are actually in contact with the people who conduct such research.
Also, your example of child entertainers and peadophiles is a false comparison as child entertainers usually have CRB checks and similar conducted to ensure consumers they are safe and suitable and not dangerous – I would imagine a parent would be less likely to hire a child entertainer who didn’t have a CRB check or similar documentation. With mediumship and psychics no such thing exists.
- Hayley
You wrote ‘The general public have a right to be educated about what they might encounter and how to spot whether they’re being misled.’
But knowing a few random statements often given in cold readings will not prove the medium is a fake – saying ‘did someone pass with a heart condition?’ might be a genuine question from a genuine medium.
You say ‘The petition was conducted as a fact finding mission more than something aiming to close down psychic shows – we knew that wouldn’t happen.’
And yet your website states ‘For over a week people have been signing our petition and asking theatres to reconsider hosting Psychic and Medium stage shows.’
What does this mean except to encourage theatres NOT to host psychic shows? If you really are in touch with scientific psychic research, you will know that genuine mediumship exists – and therefore by definition some mediums working publicly may be genuine.
So why would you want theatres to reconsider hosting psychic shows generally unless you believed that ALL such shows were phony?
If you are really in touch with psychic researchers of mediums, why do you not then present a balanced view on your site giving details of this research explaining that not all mediums are tricksters?
because there is no evidence to suggest that not all mediums are intentionally or unintentionally using trickery. That evidence needs to be provided from the medium.
Dave, I appreciate that you do not agree with what we are doing with Project Barnum, and nothing I say will change your mind so this discussion is pointless.
I applaud your attempt to expose the tricks used by stage psychics among many but believe people would rather ignore your advice than face the truth that they have been fooled. It is hard to admit we’ve been conned.
And I’ve seen this close up in the last couple of weeks. A friend had a relative with dementia missing for several night. A psychic contacts her family offering support and gave them a reading. She told them that sadly the missing relative had passed to the other side and was no longer in pain. Cue many tears and reluctant acceptance. Then, within hours the police found the poor relative alive (statistically against the odds). Fantastic.
However, my friend is now convinced of this particular psychic’s powers because of the other facts she got right. This includes vague statements about the relative being found near trees and water with traffic noises in the background.
The fact that she got the one thing the family were desperate to know completely wrong has been overlooked. I would love to challenge the psychic about this, and the fact she caused my friend additional anguish at a vulnerable time but as a “non-believer”, I will not be welcome to meet her. I’m not a so called non-believer but am willing to be convinced but these people just surround themselves with others so convinced of their powers that its easier just to keep your opinions to yourself than to cause bad feeling. Believe me, I have tried.
This psychic also churned out the old chestnut about she would prefer not to charge for her gift but she is has so many requesting her services that she now has to request “what you can afford as a payment” to maintain her family living standards.
Dear Hayley,
I would say that every single person claiming to be psychic, or a medium, or possessing psi-talents of any kind should take Mr. James Randi up on his offer of 1 million dollars and prove their talents. No one ever has, and that is because these talents (I am using this term so loosely!) do not exist. Anyone convinced that they have these abilities should go to http://www.randi.org, set up a meeting and collect their money.
This website is a wonderful idea, and I hope people will use it as a useful tool to protect themselves from the con-artists.
That is completely their choice to take the challenge.